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How To Prepare For IAS Interview?

You may call it interview but the more appropriate term is the personality test. This is the third and the final stage of the civil services examination. This 300 marks test, may not be of the qualifying nature, is very crucial in putting your rank up or down the final list. Therefore one should take this final step very seriously.

Those who are expecting an interview call, have already been started the preparation for this final lap. To give you the exact idea of this process ‘Career Quest’ talked to some senior IAS officers and some successful candidates of Civil services examination. They provide us some useful tips. We are thankful to all of them. Our this endeavour, we hope, will further strengthen your preparation.Wish you all the best !

The interview shouldn’t normally require any extra preparation other than being aware of issues and especially those related to one’s home state. Bio-data is also important topic.

One should prepare his Bio-data, Home-state/town, Socio-Economic-Political problems of India, options subjects and subjects of graduation/post-graduation, hobbies.

Personality Development Programme and some mock interview sessions are extremely helpful.

One should be prepared on the information mentioned in the Bio-data.

While facing the interview Board, the most important attributes that count are : calmness and smile on the face, natural tone and expression.

One needs to be honest and say sorry if not sure about any fact.

Asked yourself why I wanted to join Civil Services? Why did I leave a good career or job (If any)? Work on your Bio-data and try to make as far away question as possible.

The interview depends upon with what frame of mind one appears before the Interview panel.

Be confident, Interview is not question-answer session, in real sense it is purposeful conversation. Speak freely during the interview.

Make short notes of all the current events in the preceding six months.

You have to concentrate on the following areas :

1) Background including education, family etc.

2) Home state/dist.

3) Subjects studied at graduation/post-graduation level.

4) Hobbies & interests.

5) About India and World. (Social-Political- Economic).

Frankly, speaking, it is impossible to improve your personality with a week or fifteen days, whether you study specially for it or not. But it is fact that everyone taking the personality test prepares for it rather diligently.

Personality test also means you have to dress well in a formal outfit, but again there is no hard and fast rule about it.

We made out stand very clear on contentious issues so that we might not be trapped in by the board.

It is very important to think about immediate issues and problems systematically and give cogent and unambiguous answers during the interview, and the essential requirements for these are familiarity with a wide range of issues, clarity of thought and a systematic, though not rigid, outlining of the various features and aspects in involved, together with atleast some original, convincing arguments.

Excessive emphasis on coaching mars candidates easiness and makes him over cautious.

The interest/hobbies indicated should be genuine.

Tensions and excitements have to be channelised to a creative expression and accommodative answers.

One should not be too rigid or too soft regarding his opinions. It is better to be on the side of flexibility rather than that of rigidity.